A cause of concern, cotton has been steadily losing market share in India to synthetic fibres since the 1990s, the council constantly works to promote the fabric as a natural and comfort fabric that makes the world a better place. In the past as well, CCI has come up with various steps such as arrangements of competitions throughout the country for making garments with cotton fabric as the base for aspiring designers, to promote the use of the fabric and show that trends can easily be translated through the natural fabric. Subir Mukherjee, the Marketing Head of Arvind Mills supports these initiatives by saying, “These kinds of promotions will help cotton survive”.
In 2011, CCI successfully brought the fashion and textile industries together to celebrate cotton, as a part of such initiatives and celebrated “Cotton Day” which displayed creative possibilities with cotton that exists in skilled hands. Working towards the same goal Cotton Council International, has brought together all the segments, of the cotton value chain to share inspirations on how to take cotton to new heights. Through Cottonscape, it will feature fashion shows by renowned Indian designers and trend presentations with cotton fabric. Bharat Desai, Senior Executive Vice President of Reliance Industries, appreciated the efforts by CCI and remarked, “It’s fabulous to see what Cotton Council International build up years back and now the entire industry is coming together and joining in promotion of cotton. I personally look forward to their annual events… everybody believes that there is a sincere effort and we need to take it forward”.
Cotton Council International, which has been working relentlessly to promote cotton as a sustainable fashion concept, is ready with its most recent initiative Cottonscape 2012, scheduled to take place on May 8 at Mumbai. The organization is leaving no stone unturned to make the event a roaring success. The industry informed from the textile mills, fashion fraternity and garment manufacturing and retail segment are expected to be present at the event.
Though cotton has been rated as the most natural and comfortable fabric and possesses qualities best suited and demanded for hot weather, recent market surveys have suggested that the negative perceptions in terms of care requirements and adaptability of the fabric when it comes to trends, generally affects the consumer base of cotton both in the country and internationally. Affirming the same Yogesh Chaudhary, Fashion Designer mentioned, “The problem with our country is that people are forgetting cotton and feel that the fabric belongs to our grandfather’s generation but these kinds of promotions break the misperceptions and bring in the versatility of the fabric in front of consumer and media’s eyes.” The council sincerely hopes that campaigns such as Cottonscape would help reacquaint consumers with cotton, through the education of the innovations in cotton fabric developments, ease of care, health aspects, colour and trends presentations and fashion applications. The education process is not only restricted to these topics, it is taken a step ahead where the council has stepped in, and has decided to work with the designers and explain them about the variety of fabrics available in cotton and the various treatments and finishes that could be done on the fabric for a wider implementation in the supply chain.
Discussion charting out the importance of cotton promotion in India and Cotton Trend Fashion Forecast by TREND AGENCY – STYLESIGHT are amongst the prominent features of the event. The main attractions of the show are designer ensembles by the let’s design finalists in Arvind Denims, an exclusive range of cotton collection by renowned designer Rina Dhaka, presenting a collection of pieces in the summer sorbet colour palette and a Spring/Summer collection’s preview of the season 2012 by a leading Indian brand. “Every time I work with cotton I feel relaxed, it’s a fabric I am familiar with. The events that Cotton Council International conducts have significant impact on the industry especially the design students and I hope that media understands how important it is for these shows to make us realize that we need to go back to the fabric this country belongs to – COTTON,” says Rina Dhaka. Along with these, the council will also present at the event a photographic journey of Cottonscape campaign running in all the leading fashion and business editorials for the past seven months.
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